Lapping its first year, Sonos added exclusive streaming content, it said Tuesday. Sonos Radio and the $7.99 monthly Sonos Radio HD are part of a platform for “artists, DJs, and curators to connect with listeners” in a way that feels "personal," said Joe Dawson, director-content and brand platforms.

Augmented and virtual reality will become a multibillion-dollar business opportunity for display makers over the next five years, reported Display Supply Chain Consultants Monday. It forecast annual revenue for AR and VR displays will grow at a 52% compound annual growth rate, reaching $4.2 billion globally in 2026. “Major brands with strong ecosystems like Apple and Sony are planning to release new headsets,” said DSCC analyst Guillaume Chansin. “There are now better components designed specifically for head-worn devices instead of smartphones,” and the rollout of 5G should enable more AR and VR content to be delivered, he said. “Investment in new display technologies will lead to a new generation of headsets with compelling visual performance and more compact form factors.”

Comments are due April 27 in docket 337-3544 at the International Trade Commission on the public interest ramifications of the Tariff Act Section 337 import ban that Dish seeks in an April 13 complaint (login required) on exercise equipment with capabilities that allegedly infringe five of its adaptive bit-rate streaming patents, says Monday's Federal Register. Named as proposed respondents in the investigation Dish seeks are Icon, its subsidiaries Free Motion and NordicTrack, plus lululemon and Peloton. None of the companies responded to questions Friday.

The FCC will co-lead a workshop April 26 with the National Counterintelligence and Security Center on "efforts to secure the nation's communications supply chain," said Friday's Daily Digest. FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel will open the daylong event, and representatives from the Public Safety and Homeland Security, Wireless and Wireline bureaus will participate. The FCC is "taking significant action and working with its federal partners to secure our nation's communications networks," Rosenworcel said in a statement. It's "vital that we work collaboratively to protect against vulnerabilities that could provide foreign interests with access to our networks."

Washington state House appropriators were expected to vote Thursday afternoon on state privacy and municipal broadband bills. Earlier at the livestreamed hearing, the tech industry and other businesses told the Appropriations Committee that it’s too hard to comply with last week’s Judiciary Committee changes to SB-5062, which included adding a private right of action and sunsetting companies’ right to cure (see 2103260034). The American Civil Liberties Union said the bill lacks teeth to ensure compliance. Such disagreement shows the bill is “actually a good compromise,” testified Common Sense Media Director-State Advocacy Joseph Jerome. The Internet Association wants the privacy bill restored to the measure that passed the Senate, said Rose Feliciano, director-state government affairs, Northwest. She complained about “zero public input” on the Judiciary Committee’s changes, echoing comments by Washington Technology Industry Association and Association of Washington Business witnesses. Funding for attorney general enforcement of the privacy bill is “grossly inadequate to address the scope of the problem," said ACLU-Washington attorney Bill Block, citing a fiscal note saying the AG would get support for 1.2 attorneys and 3.6 full-time equivalents (FTEs). “It assumes only three full investigations and no litigation a year.” The private right is toothless because Block doubts individuals will sue if they can’t seek damages, he said. The Washington Independent Telecommunications Association will take a “leap of faith” and support SB-5383 to loosen municipal restrictions if appropriators adopted the committee amendment, said Executive Director Betty Buckley. The Washington Public Utility Districts Association also supported the bill with those changes.

BlackBerry is in "an exclusive negotiation" to sell a “major portion” of its patent portfolio to a “North American party,” said CEO John Chen on a Tuesday call for fiscal Q4, ended Feb. 28. BlackBerry would retain rights to use the patents, he said. Those for sale are “relevant” for mobile devices, messaging and wireless networking but “not useful to us today,” he said. The patents associated with BlackBerry’s “strategic software and services business” won't be involved, he said. “The company has not yet reached a definitive binding agreement, and negotiations are ongoing.” Licensing and other revenue was $50 million in Q4, said Chief Financial Officer Steve Rai. “Licensing activities have been limited not only due to the ongoing negotiations, but also because revenue from additional transactions that could have been completed in the quarter would have been treated as contingent revenue and deferred to future periods,” he said. “Had negotiations not been in progress, we believe licensing revenue would have been higher.” Rai's disclosure sent the stock tumbling 9.7% Friday, closing at $8.43.

The Biden administration should partner with democratic countries to combat China’s tech strategy, a bipartisan group of ex-national security officials wrote Tuesday. They urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to consider provisions in the Democracy Technology Partnership Act from Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va.; Bob Menendez, D-N.J.; Michael Bennet, D-Colo.; John Cornyn, R-Texas; Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Ben Sasse, R-Neb.; Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; and Todd Young, R-Ind. “The bill offers an important idea: creating a diplomatic mechanism to execute a national security strategy, which places technology competition and international partnerships at its center,” the group wrote. Signers included: ex-Secretary of Defense Ash Carter; ex-Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper; ex-Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig; ex-Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Michael Hayden; ex-National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley; former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy; and former Department of State Policy Planning Director Anne-Marie Slaughter.

Copyright royalty judges’ initial determination in a webcasting rate-setting proceeding is now due June 14, the Copyright Office said Monday, citing COVID-19. The original Dec. 16 due date was first postponed to April 15 (see 2007060031).

The FTC won’t petition the Supreme Court to review its antitrust case against Qualcomm, the agency announced Monday (see 2010280058). Acting Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter cited the “significant headwinds facing the Commission” here and continues "to believe that the district court’s conclusion that Qualcomm violated the antitrust laws was entirely correct and that the court of appeals erred in concluding otherwise.” Bold antitrust enforcement is needed more than ever, she said: “I am particularly concerned about the potential for anticompetitive or unfair behavior in the context of standard setting and the FTC will closely monitor conduct in this arena.” The company didn’t immediately comment.

Comments are due April 26, replies May 10, on regulations to establish the new Copyright Claims Board under the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (see 2012290048), the Copyright Office announced Friday. The board will let parties voluntarily resolve copyright claims of “low financial value.” The CO expects to issue “multiple notices of proposed rulemaking, each focusing on one or more regulatory categories.”